


Everything comes back to you..

by elle_maexx



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:13:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21674269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elle_maexx/pseuds/elle_maexx
Summary: Nobody understands Tommy’s betrayal of his family at the end of Season 3, until they do. Until they all realise he had no choice. It was give them up or never see Grace again. He couldn’t take that chance. He needed to see if it was true, if she really was alive.
Relationships: Grace Burgess/Tommy Shelby
Comments: 17
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

Ada raced after Tommy, tears streaming down her face as she cradled John’s baby to her chest. Esme was off comforting Linda, so the poor thing was screaming in the absence of its mother. “What the fuck was that Thomas? Why did you do it?” She demanded, standing in front of her brother and stopping him in his tracks. 

“For Charlie. For my fucking family.” Tommy answered quickly, trying to rid himself of the image of Polly’s eyes. It seemed now engrained in his memory, but he knew to focus on what was important. 

Ada looked at him as if he had grown another head, John’s daughter finally quieting in her arms as the tears continued to fall heavily down her cheeks. “What has Charles got to do with this?” Her voice was lowered, determined not to wake the now dozing baby as her head was starting to ache from the noise. 

Tommy tilted his head at the baby, hoping that what he was about to say next would sway Ada in some way. He felt guilt looking at his newest niece, knowing what he had done to her father, but it couldn’t be helped. “Charles needs his mother back. I need his mother back.” Ada’s confused expression spurred Tommy to continue, finally daring to speak the words he had yet to voice to anyone else. “Grace is alive Ada. She’s alive.”

  
If it wasn’t for the solid weight in her arms and the knowledge that the weight was in fact her own flesh and blood, Ada would have fallen to the floor in utter shock. “So you sold your family out to the coppers for her?” Still trying to process the information, Ada tried to piece together a story that Tommy wasn’t giving away without a fight. 

“Yes.” Tommy confirmed, beginning to walk again towards Charles’ nursery and knowing that Ada would follow. “And I’d do it again too.” It didn’t need to be said, but he felt the need to confirm the love he still had for his wife. A lot had happened since she’d been taken, with a lot still needing to happen too. But he still loved her as much as the day she had told him she was carrying his baby, if not more now. 

“How can you be sure?” Ada didn’t know if Tommy had any proof, hoped for his sake that he had. But she wasn’t sure he needed it, knew he loved Grace enough to do this on the sheer thought of getting to see her again. “What if it’s a trick?” 

Tommy shook his head, more to not allow himself to think of the possibility that Ada could be right. If this was all for nothing, if Grace really was gone after all, there would be hell to pay. For him and for each and every person that took part in telling him of this. “I have to try.” He confirmed, finally reaching the nursery. Charlie held his hands out to him immediately, wanting to be safe in his fathers arms and Tommy obliged immediately, planting a kiss to the boys cheek when his skin was in touching distance, “Plus, Charles saw her. Didn’t you Charlie?” He asked his son, bouncing the toddler gently in his arms. “Mama? Did you see mama?”

  
Ada looked at Tommy as if he’d gone mad, worried for her brothers sanity as he babbled to the baby. This was it, Thomas Shelby had officially lost his mind. She knew losing Grace had effected him, had never given the woman enough credit for how much Tommy had truly changed for her. But now, it was clear that Tommy needed help. 

Tommy saw the look Ada was giving him, and reached inside his jacket pocket for a cigarette, which he lit with a roll of his eyes. “I’m not insane, Ada.” He confirmed, knowing that his words weren’t really helping his case. “Charles spoke about her when Michael brought him back, spoke her name over and over again. He hasn’t done that in a while. Hughes’ men told me she looked after him, they’ve got her. It was part of the deal, i’m close to getting her back.”

Charlie finally seemed to be able to pick up on Tommy’s words, and turned to his father with wonder in his eyes. “Mama!” He exclaimed brightly, looking around the room as if he would be able to catch sight of her. Ada had to admit, it wasn’t something the toddler had done for a few months. He had asked after Grace constantly for months after her death, and even though Tommy promised that he would never forgot his mother, he found it hard to talk about her just yet. When the tears stopped, Charlie seemed to realise that Grace wouldn’t be returning and made his own piece with it, as much as you can only being 2. But now, he looked for her with fresh eyes and began to wail when she wasn’t in sight.   
Thomas watched Ada come to the realisation that he had. Of course, he hadn’t believed Hughes to begin with either. The men played dirty, and using his dead wife against him didn’t come close to the low levels he assumed they would be willing to go to in order to get what they wanted. However, Charles’ reaction had all but confirmed it. His son was the only person he truly trusted, along with his wife. “It’s not just Charlie. It’s the baby too.” 

For the second time that day, Ada was speechless. She looked to the ceiling and let out a long sigh, once again having to check herself as she moved her vision back to her brother and asked; “What baby?”

“My baby. Grace’s baby. Our fucking baby.” His voice rose on every word, anger seeping from him as he spoke. If it wasn’t for Charlie in his arms, he’d be pacing once more. It’s all he’d done since being told, paced and planned and worried. 

“I didn’t know there was a baby.” 

“Neither did I, but there is.” He’d received the news alongside a letter, with the plans he was to follow if he wanted to see Grace again or meet their unborn baby. He was to send his family to the prisons or risk having his child killed, and he wasn’t going to let that happen.


	2. Chapter 2

With his family locked away, Tommy sent word that the deed had been done. He knew Hughes would already know, knew that his house was under watch so the word would already be out that the Shelby family was incarcerated. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but silence definitely wasn’t it. Half expecting to have Grace brought straight to him, he waited on the bottom floor of the house so to always be within earshot of the door.

Ada refused to leave, for both her own piece of mind and out of concern for her brother’s sanity. She was nowhere near convinced, still believed that Tommy had been filled with false hopes in exchange for selling out his own flesh and blood. Esme was having none of it, calmed Linda enough to come and take back her daughter before leaving again. She made sure to make a show of spitting at Tommy’s feet, throwing a filthy look Ada’s way too due to the fact that the woman wasn’t leaving with her. She sent word to have Karl and Finn brought to her, knowing she’d have to try and fix this mess herself. Tommy was in no position to do the work required of them, and she needed the family home. Michael would be a mess, not born into the life and still not used to the ways of their world. John was delicate underneath his bravado, would try his hardest to claw his way to the top of the prison hierarchy but needed getting out before he forgot himself. Arthur would lose himself soon enough, drive himself mad with his newfound faith and without Linda by his side. It was Polly that Ada worried for most, knew the woman would blame herself and use her thoughts of punishment against herself before it was too late. None of them were made for prison, had spent their lives avoiding it at all costs only to be handed in by the one man who swore family came before anything. 

“Where is she then Thomas?” Ada looked around, having sent Karl to play with his cousin under the watchful eye of Finn. Thomas had moved his desk into the downstairs living room, completing his paperwork within earshot of the door incase it opened. Ada was quickly losing patience with Thomas, her anger returning and replacing the concern she originally felt for her brother.

Tommy refused to meet her eye, focusing on the letter he was writing. It was the third he’d send that day, but he was promised answers and had yet to receive any. “I don’t fucking know.”

“They’ve played you. You’ve been played.” 

“Grace is coming home.”

“She’s dead!” Ada almost cried, voice laced with desperation as she begged Thomas to listen to her. “I was there. You were there too, you’ve forgotten yourself.” 

“I have to try. I need-“ 

“Mama!” The cries of his son pulled him from his argument with his sister, and Thomas took off towards the door without a second thought. He rounded the corner and the sight before him stopped him in his tracks, Grace stood with Charles in her arms as Finn and Karl watched on. “Oh, Charlie. Hi baby.” She planted kisses to his cheeks, delighting in the shrieks of joy that came from his mouth as his mother smothered him with kisses. She was there, alive and well and in front of them all. 

“Grace?” Ada questioned as she approached, reaching for her son and younger brother as she weighed up her options. She was sure she was seeing a ghost, convinced her mind was playing tricks on her as she watched the scene unfold. With Karl’s hand in hers, she walked closer to the woman and realised that she was living, breathing and very much her sister-in-law. “Grace.” She added again, no longer a question, gathering the woman in her arms and giving her a hug. She felt something pressed between them and looked down to see Grace’s very large and definitely pregnant stomach. Bloody hell, Thomas hadn’t been lying. “What the fuck? How?” 

Grace shook her head as an answer. Now wasn’t the time, it wasn’t the place, the right people weren’t present. She finally turned to Tommy, acknowledging his presence at long last as she passed Charles over to his aunt. “Thomas.” She approached him quickly, pulling him towards her as she rested her head into his neck, her arms locked around his back as she got as close to him as her stomach would allow. She felt his reluctance to touch her, as if touching her would mean she’d disappear. “I’m here Tommy, I’m really here.” She breathed in his scent, something she hadn’t forgotten in all the time she’d been away. 

“We have a lot to discuss.” Tommy finally spoke against her hair, moving his hands delicately to rest on her back. He hadn’t meant his first words to be so formal, but it was what he did. He used it as a coping mechanism, a way to hide his true feelings in an attempt to keep the facade up.

Grace didn’t know if to laugh or cry, the comment was just so Tommy that she felt the need to weep. Later, she’d blame her hormones. But now, she only had one thing on her mind. “We do. But first.. kiss me.” She’d spent so long convincing herself that she had died all those months ago, that she was living a nightmare. Now, she knew what she needed to feel alive, knew a sure way to confirm to them both that she was truly back.

Thomas pulled back from her and took her hands in his, sparing a glance at her stomach before looking back up to her face. He gently lifted one hand to cup her cheek, running his thumb across her lip before leaning in. “Of course Mrs Shelby. What time do you call this?”


	3. Chapter 3

Tommy kissed Grace as if it were his last moment on Earth, as if it were crumbling around him and she was his lifeline. She was, in a sense, as he’d completely lost all meaning and purpose since the moment she was taken from him. If it wasn’t for Charlie, he’d have joined her in whatever afterlife that were to exist. He’d felt close to it many times, had lost himself almost entirely up until this very moment. He pulled back and looked around to find Ada had the decency to give them some privacy, to take the children and given him some well needed alone time with his wife. It was only then did he register that she really was stood in front of him, and he was filled with concern immediately. “Where have you been? Are you okay? Are you hurt? The baby? Is it okay?” He fired off the questions at rapid speed, fingers tracing her face delicately as he held her head in his hands. 

“She’s fine Thomas.” Grace replied quickly, taking hold of his hands and guiding them down to her stomach. As if on cue, their child began dancing beneath their joint fingers and kicked towards the feeling of her parents hands. 

Tommy felt the breath rush out of him, watching the life inside of Grace move beneath his hand. These were the moments he had missed with Charlie, too caught up in the business and dealing with Grace’s previous marriage. He had barely made it back for the birth, running into the room at the very last moment to take hold of her hand and help her through the final minutes before he was born. In the weeks afterwards as he lay with Charles in his arms and Grace beside him, he promised her that things would be different the next time around. The business would be legitimate, they would be safe and he’d be there for any and all milestones that their family faced. “She?” He asked with a smirk on his lips and his brow raised, the hint of amusement on his face as his eyes darted between his wife’s eyes and stomach.

Grace shrugged, knowing the inter turmoil that Tommy was feeling. She was just grateful that her daughter had been listening to the stories she told in the months they were locked up with only each other as company. If her reaction was anything to go by, she knew exactly who her father was already. “Just a feeling.” She confirmed, but knew mother’s intuition was never wrong.   
“Grace. Where have you been?” And there it was, the weighted question that pressed against her chest like a rock. 

She struggled to breath as the inevitable was spoken, and she knew she’d need to sit with her husband and discuss the missing months. He’d want to know everything, would want to know exactly who he needed to hurt for taking her away from him, away from Charlie. She’d hoped for a few more moments of peace before having to think of that, but then, she must have forgotten who her husband was. “Hughes had me. I was taken from the hospital, kept in a locked room until I woke. He’s kept me well informed though..”

Tommy met her eyes at her words and he saw a hint of his wife that he feared had been lost in the ordeal. 

“How is the Duchess, Tommy? And Lizzie Stark?” She asked bitterly, and Tommy was so grateful to hear the spark in her voice that he swooped down to kiss her once more, not caring for the obvious anger that was evident in her voice.


	4. Chapter 4

Grace tried to push him away, wanting her answers from him as the rage surged inside of her. But he was relentless, and she lost herself in the feeling of his lips on hers once more before giving up and pulling him against her, using her anger and directing it into their kiss as she bit down on his lip with more force than necessary. 

Tommy accepted the pain, taking it as another well needed reminder that she was real and in front of him. He pulled back slightly but kept her close, their breath mingling as their foreheads touched. “Did they hurt you?” He asked, bringing his thumb to trace her cheek as he locked eyes with hers. 

She locked her eyes with his, shaking her head slightly to remember her train of thought before addressing him once more. “You didn’t answer my question Thomas.” She asked again, hoping to get an honest answer if he knew she wasn’t to drop it. She needed to know, needed to know how far he’d gone to replace her. Who had been caring for Charles in her absence? Was her room no longer hers? Father Hughes had delighted in revealing exactly who it was that had been keeping her bed warm, and she needed to know to what extent. Lizzie had wanted Tommy before Grace was even in the picture, and Grace was sure that she was more than happy to lend her shoulder for him to cry on. 

The look of uncertainly broke Tommy’s heart, adding it to the long list of reasons why he was to make Hughes’ life a living hell. “There’s business. And there’s love. Isn’t that what you said? It was business Grace.” He reminded her of what she’d told him that she’d said to May, before he came for her after the races. She told him how his lack of presence had made her believe he had chosen someone else, so her speech had been for nothing. Luckily, it wasn’t. And Thomas came to her in the early hours, apologies on his lips before placing his lips against hers until oxygen was necessary. “Now, you haven’t answered my question. Did they hurt you?” He asked more firmly, wanting to check every inch of her body for sign of injuries for his own piece of mind. 

She shook her head as a form of a reply, still determined to avoid the conversation for as long as possible. “They let me see Charlie, when they took him from you. They gave him to me. He knew who I was Tommy, he hadn’t forgotten me.” 

Her eyes light up at the mention of the time she spent with her son, despite the circumstances. And Tommy felt himself smirk as he watched her. “I would never let him forget you Grace. The room is the same, the pictures untouched. Our room, is still that.” He promised, hands around the back of her neck as he played with the hair there. No matter who else he completed business with, no matter how hard he tried or what breath technique was used on him, no other hair ever felt as soft under his fingertips. 

“How am I here? What did they make you do?” She asked, scared of the answer as she pulled his hand from behind her head and searched for the ring there. He still wore it, she was delighted to find, and brought it to her lips to place a soft kiss on top of the band. 

A large banging at the door turned both of their attentions away from each other, and Tommy felt his blood run cold. Acting on instinct, he took his gun from the holster around his shoulders and placed it in her hands, turning her towards their stairs. “Take this, go to Charles. Wait for me there, lock the door. Okay?” She didn’t say anything, eyes still trained on the door as her eyes widened in fear. “Grace, are you listening to me?” 

She merely nodded, unable to speak as the fear had her rooted to the spot. This was it, they were coming back for her. Hughes and her men had given her the reunion she’d waited months for only to come and take it away again. 

“For fucks sake, stay safe.” He didn’t care that it left him unarmed, only cared that she was climbing the stairs and getting herself out of harms way. It was only then that he realized he had no-one to call on, no brothers waiting to stand by his side in whatever battle he was about to face. Whoever was on the other side of the door wasn’t giving up, and Tommy waited with his hands behind his back for it to be opened and reveal whoever it may be.


	5. Chapter 5

Trying not to think of what was happening downstairs, Grace took tentative steps towards the nursery she knew her son would be in. She hid the gun given to her by Tommy underneath her dress and caressed her large stomach before placing her hand on the doorknob. She heard his voice before she saw him, and opened the door quietly so to not alert him of her presence. She wasn’t as quiet as she hoped though, as she soon had her arms full with none other than the youngest Shelby sibling.

“I’ve missed you.” Finn commented against her skin, a tear running down his cheek as his face pressed against her neck. 

Grace stroked at his hair as Charlie made his way over to her, face alight with joy at the sight of his mother. She bend down to gather him in her arms, Finn still against her as the tears continued to roll. “Ada, what’s been happening?” She asked the other woman, who looked up from the train track she had been making with Karl. “Tell me the truth.” Grace almost begged, hating how much she felt out of the loop. She was scared, terrified she’d be taken again after being reunited with her family. And the house was surprisingly empty, no other Shelby’s to greet her except the youngest brother. 

Ada resisted the attempt to roll her eyes, having to stop herself and remember that Tommy’s actions weren’t her fault. Not this time anyway. “He’s sent them all to prison Grace. Arthur, Michael, John. Pol too. They’re in cells.” It wasn’t that Ada held grudges, she had forgiven Grace almost as quickly as Tommy had. It was only Polly who had refused to believe in Grace’s redemption, still swore blind that the woman was evil. Everyone else was able to see the effect she had on Thomas, how truly happy he was in her company and now her presence always helped to calm him down no matter what he was facing. 

Downstairs, Thomas was face to face with a man he had never seen before. But he dressed the same as Father Hughes, and proudly declared that he worked for him. 

Thomas said nothing as he was introduced, refusing the hand that was offered out to him as he kept his expression stoney. 

His silence didn’t deter the man, who walked around as if it was his own house. “Well done Mister Shelby. Your wife is home.” 

“What do you want?” He asked, trying to hide the fear from his voice. He wouldn’t let Grace go again, wouldn’t lose her once more. He wouldn’t let anyone else take her away from their son, wouldn’t allow her to spend another second of her pregnancy without him by her side. 

“Mister Hughes sent me. He’s impressed. He’s sent me with news. Your family are to be hung.. in 3 days time for their crimes. Tell Mrs Shelby I send my love, she was always keen to receive that.” Thomas didn’t know how to process the news, a million thoughts running through his head as he tried to think of his next move. He watched the man leave his house, grateful that he didn’t have to hold his breath any longer. Turning to face the stairs, he climb them two steps at a time in search of his answers. He needed to see Grace, unsure if he wanted to scream or weep after the conversation he’d just had. Overcome with worry for his family, he swallowed that down in order to calmly get his answers from his wife. 

As Grace was coming to terms with what Tommy had done, she barely registered him coming into the nursery and taking her face in his hands. She knew he loved her, had meant what she said when she told him she trusted him. She’d always trusted that he loved her, that he belonged to her from the moment he found out she was carrying Charles and shared the news with him. But this, this was something she never expected. Tommy wasn’t known for his displays of affection, especially not one on such a grand scale. She felt honoured, but also furious he had taken such a risk. 

“Did you lie to me?” He wasn’t angry at her, not really. He was angry at the thought of her alone and helpless, their child safely nestled in her stomach as someone lay their hands on her. But his words came out full of hatred, and she backed off when she assumed it was directed to her. 

“About what?” Her reply was tiresome, Charles contently nestled in her arms as she locked eyes with Ada. The other woman gestured towards the door, silently asking if she should leave them be. But Grace shook her head, grateful for the company and to be surrounded by people again after so long alone. 

“Did they touch you? Hurt you? For fucks sake Grace, tell me. Did they rape you?” 

At the tone of his father’s voice, Charles looked up from where he was playing with his mother’s fingers. As if finally realising his family was truly together again, he reached for Tommy too and held onto both parents hands. Grace smiled down at her son and her fingers that were now laced with Tommy’s, more to do with her husband’s actions than her little boy’s. “No Thomas, they didn’t. They treated me like a Queen. Hughes liked me, wanted me to be with him.” Even admitting it made her skin crawl, the look in his eyes as he watched her being all she could see when she closed her eyes. She was scared for herself, but more scared for her baby if she hadn’t made it out before the time had come to give birth. She had no doubt that without the child, Hughes would have treated her a lot worse. Only the reminder that she belonged to someone else, that she carried another mans child, was enough to keep his hands off her. 

“And nobody else touched you?” The previous words still rang through his ears, only now coming to the realisation that they were probably said to wind him up. 

“No, you have my word Tommy. I trust you. Do you trust me?” 

“Yes I trust you Grace.”

“Baby?” Unaware of his parents turmoil, Charles placed his hands down on Grace’s stomach, asking his question and looking at them with wide eyes. 

Grace let out a laugh as tears filled her eyes, swooping down as fast as she could to plant kisses to his cheeks. “Yes Charlie, baby.”


End file.
